Conveyor belts and chains are utilized in a wide variety of applicants for numerous purposes. Many conveyor chains include a plurality of chain links which are linked together to form the conveyor chain. Such links and conveyor chains generally must be capable of supporting a load which is transmitted along and by the conveyor chain.
One specific application of such conveyor chains is in poultry processing lines. Typically, poultry carcasses are supported on a conveyor chain in a production line on which the carcasses are deboned and/or otherwise processed. U.S. Pat. No. 7,278,536, entitled “Molded plastic conveyor chain member for processing poultry” and which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, provides one example of a conveyor chain and the various links utilized with such belt for poultry processing applications. In particular, the '536 patent provides various spaced apart links in the conveyor chain which are capable of supporting rods therein. Poultry carcasses are mounted on the rods for processing. These links of the '536 patent are entirely integrally formed of plastic in order to be lightweight and efficient.
However, such links have various disadvantages. For example, the rods supported by such links are typically formed from a metal such as stainless steel. The interaction between the different materials of the metal rod and plastic link may cause damage to the plastic link, thus weakening the connection between the link and rod. Further, such links formed entirely of plastic may generally be relatively unstable.
Accordingly, improved chain links and methods for forming such chain links would be advantageous. In particular, chain links that are relatively stable and which facilitate improved connections with metal rods coupled thereto would be desired, and methods which provide such chain links would additionally be desired.